


How Ryuji Found A Way To Stop Pining (Finally)

by ryujidefensesquad (Shsldork)



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 00:31:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14884181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shsldork/pseuds/ryujidefensesquad
Summary: Ryuji invites himself over to Leblanc in the early morning in an attempt to tell Akira how he feels, but shit keeps getting in the way.





	1. Operation "Tell Akira How You Feel" Is A-Go

**Author's Note:**

> I know it says theres 4 chapters but this is basically just a one shot. the other three chapter are just extra stuff I wrote down afterwards.

Akira awoke to a soft buzzing coming from his desk. He had no idea what time it was, but he did know one thing - it was still dark outside, meaning he still had time to sleep before daybreak. He groaned, ignoring the buzzing, and turned on his side to try and fall back asleep. He could feel himself drifting off when he heard another buzz, pulling him from an attempt at a peaceful slumber. He sighed. Whoever was messaging him at this ungodly hour was hellbent on getting his attention apparently. Whatever it happened to be about, he hoped he could get it over with quickly and get some more sleep before sunrise. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, before standing and shuffling over to his desk, too tired to lift his feet. He grabbed his phone, and without thinking, pushed the button, turning the screen on and effectively blinding himself for a good half minute or so. He squinted, getting his eyes adjusted to the sight. He saw the two message notifications - they were from Ryuji.

Ryuji: yo akira u up?

Ryuji: talk to me man

Akira unlocked his phone to respond, typing something quick.

Akira: What is it?

Within seconds, he got a response.

Ryuji: im bored as hell

Ryuji: give me smthn fun to do

Still bleary eyed, but a bit more functional than before, Akira typed out another response.

Akira: I’ve got a great suggestion.

Ryuji: what?

Akira: Go to bed.

Akira smirked slightly, happy he managed to keep a light tone when all he wanted to do was pass out.

Ryuji: haha very funny

Ryuji: im serious

Akira: So am I. Why are you still up?

Ryuji: cant sleep. besides ur up too

Akira: Yeah, because you woke me up, smartass.

Ryuji: oh did i? whoops

Akira: Mind if I go back to sleep?

Ryuji: but im still so bored… can i come over

Akira’s brows furrowed.

Akira: What, right now? Do you even know what time it is?

Ryuji: thats not a no so im omw

Akira pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head slightly, before responding.

Akira: Are the trains even running?

Ryuji: i can catch the last one if i hurry

Ryuji: gtg!! c u soon!

Well. He guessed this was happening now. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes once more, patting his face to wake himself up. This is something Ryuji has done before, particularly on bad or stressful days, so Akira wasn’t completely surprised by the sudden self invitation. Ryuji probably just wanted to get his mind off of something, and they usually got to sleep pretty quickly once Ryuji arrived. He just needed a bit of a distraction.

Akira set up a place for Ryuji to sleep, then crept downstairs, weary of the creakiest stairs and avoiding them so as not to wake Morgana. Once he reached the main floor of the shop, he shuffled around until he found the light switch, flicking it on. He went to unlock the door for Ryuji, and then sat in a booth, waiting for his arrival. He rested his chin in his hand, his elbow on the table, and he could feel his eyelids getting heavier and harder to keep open.

He wasn’t sure how long after that this was, but he heard the familiar sound of a bell, the signature sound of customers, and Akira’s head shot up. His eyes were a bit wide at the prospect of a customer coming in now, until he remembered Ryuji had been coming over. The tension that had come from his alarm faded, and he glanced up to see Ryuji beaming at him, as he sat down across from him.

“It’s good to see you, man!”

Akira thought Ryuji had way too much energy for this time of day. Akira nodded, slow and lethargic, his grogginess still apparent on his features. Ryuji frowned.

“Look, man, I’m sorry for waking you,” Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “just ‘cause I can’t sleep doesn’t mean I should be draggin’ ya down with me.”

Akira raised his eyebrow, “you didn’t realize that before coming over?”

Ryuji shrugged, “I guess I just wanted to… spend some time with you. It feels like it’s been forever since we last hung out, y'know?”

Akira yawned, “then why not text me about hanging out sometime during the week?”

“You don’t think I’ve tried? You’re always busy, dude.”

“Am not.”

“Are too, especially with studyin’,” Ryuji smiled, a mischievous glint in his eye, “man, you’re such a goodie two shoes.”

Akira gave him a small smile, “knock it off, man.”

It was true though, Akira had been spending a lot of time studying as of late. How many times had he declined hanging out with his friends over the past couple weeks? Ryuji probably wasn’t the only one who missed him, but he’d rather think about that later.

Akira thought out loud, “is that the only reason you came here?”

“What, a guy’s not allowed to miss his best friend?”

“Well, you usually show up when something bad happens.”

“Nah, nothing bad, just… just that,” Ryuji looked away. If it wasn’t apparent he was hiding something before, it definitely was now. Akira thought he could see a hint of redness spreading across Ryuji’s face.

He grinned, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you have the hots for me.” He had meant this completely jokingly, of course, but his friend scowled, snapping back to look at him.

“Shut up, man, I do not. You’re just full of yourself.”

“Whoa, dude, just a joke,” he couldn’t help but think that he’d struck a bit of a nerve, but he decided not to think too hard about it.

Ryuji rubbed his neck again, eyes looking away from Akira, “sorry.”

There were a couple minutes of silence following that conversation, and Akira noticed Ryuji bouncing his leg under the table. Akira was about to ask if Ryuji was alright, and if there was anything he wanted to talk about, but Ryuji spoke before he could ask, “whattaya say we go to bed?”

“Huh? You just got here. What happened to being bored?”

Ryuji yawned, though it may have been feigned, Akira couldn’t really tell because of the drowsiness, and said, “I’m a lot more tired than I thought. Let’s just call it a night, man.”

Akira shrugged, “sure. Futon’s ready for you.”

“Thanks.”

Turning to relock the door, he could’ve sworn he heard soft cursing coming from under Ryuji’s breath. He decided not to dwell on it, instead looking forward to being able to fall back asleep.

—–

The next morning, Akira woke up to the sun beaming in his face, and he groaned. He felt like he hadn’t slept at all, but he also knew he probably wasn’t getting back to sleep, so he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Seems Morgana had already gotten up, seeing as he was alone. He stretched, standing up and hearing a few cracks from various parts of his body. He wasn’t sure what time it was - Had Sojiro already opened shop? He went to check his phone - No, it was fairly early. He didn’t have to get dressed just yet.

He headed downstairs to find Morgana curled up on one of the stools, and Ryuji sitting in a booth. He turned to go make himself some breakfast, before stopping and looking back at Ryuji, who hadn’t seemed to notice him yet. That’s when Akira remembered that Ryuji had actually stayed the night, seeing as he took the last train to get to Leblanc. He must've been pretty tired to forget something like that, but he shrugged it off. He decided a greeting should be in order.

“Morning, Ryuji.”

Ryuji lifted his head towards Akira, and smiled, “G'mornin’. Was wonderin’ when you’d wake up.”

“What do you mean? How long have you been awake?”

“A while. Couldn’t sleep last night.”

Akira shrugged, “fair enough. Want me to make some curry for breakfast?”

“Yes, please!”

—-

Ryuji sat happily, his plate completely empty of anything resembling curry - if you hadn’t known he had eaten from it, you might think it was clean.

“Man, Akira, you’re the best.”

“I try.”

Ryuji’s face fell, “ah, by the way, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about last night.”

“Huh? What about it?”

“Well, I was actin’ real weird, y'know?”

Now that Akira thought about it, he had been acting a bit weird, hadn’t he? Remembering what he did about the night before, it definitely seemed to him that Ryuji wanted to talk about something, but stopped himself.

Ryuji continued, “I… wasn’t completely honest with you. I wasn’t bored when I came over last night, that was just an excuse I came up with. I… actually wanted to talk to you about something, but chickened out at the last second.”

Akira tilted his head, “you wanted to tell me something?”

Looking away, Ryuji scratched his head, stammering out, “Y-yeah. It’s… something that’s been on my mind for a bit.”

“Well,” Akira smiled, “what is it? You can tell me anything, y'know. That’s what friends are for.”

“Uh… yeah, about that-”

Just then, the door to the cafe opened, and they both heard a familiar sounding voice, “oh, Ryuji, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Ryuji tensed suddenly as the door had swung open, but knowing it was only Sojiro was a bit comforting. He replied, “hey, Boss, good t'see ya.”

Akira waved, and Sojiro eyed him saying, “I hope you weren’t planning on staying in your pajamas the whole day.”

Akira just nodded, “yeah, yeah, I’ll go get dressed.”

Sojiro walked towards Morgana, petting him affectionately as he let out soft purrs, saying, “I’m going to set up shop now. Mind cleaning up?”

“No problem,” Akira stood up, taking both his and Ryuji’s plates, and walked towards the back of the cafe. Ryuji, giving a nod to Sojiro, went back up to the attic. Now would be a good time to practice what he planned to say to Akira. Of course, he’s already thought it over thousands of times leading up to this moment, and of course he’s gone through literally every scenario in his head for how this could turn out, but he wasn’t going to chicken out this time.

He paced, anxiously ruminating about what was to come next, when he heard footsteps. Akira emerged from downstairs, saying, “oh, there you are.”

“Uh, yeah, so, about earlier-”

“Hang on, let me get dressed first.”

“Oh, okay, sure,” Ryuji paused, holding onto the thought for later.

Akira stood, staring at him for a solid thirty seconds, before saying, “what, are you gonna watch?”

Ryuji blushed furiously at the concept, before stammering out, “sh-shit, right, sorry, my bad, I’ll be downstairs,” before quickly making his way downstairs, hoping Akira didn’t notice how red his face was.

Once downstairs, he sat in an empty booth, and he lay his head face down on the table, groaning.

“Wow, you really are a useless gay guy, aren’t you?”

Startled, Ryuji jumped, and realizing it was just Morgana, he scowled, “stupid cat, why do you have to do that?! And it’s useless bi guy, thank you very much,” Ryuji crossed his arms. It took him a second or two before he said, “wait, how did you know that?”

Morgana grinned, “you aren’t slick. I’ve seen how you look at the guy, clearly you like him.”

Ryuji rolled his eyes, “okay, whatever. I don’t care what you think anyways.”

Morgana smiled, a genuine smile, “I’m happy for you, actually. Nothing wrong with being bi. Does anybody else know?”

“Well, Ann knows… Lord knows I can’t keep a secret from her, no matter how hard I try.”

“It’s not like you try to hide it. It’s kinda obvious, dude.”

“Look, I can’t help it if he’s handsome, okay? Not to mention funny, understanding, not judgemental…”

“Hey there, Earth to Ryuji. Hello? You there?”

He snaps out of his daze, looking back at Morgana, who had a knowing, shit-eating grin on his cat face, “right,” he sighs, “look, I just… I can’t do this. Ann was helping with my morale yesterday, but I chickened out and now my confidence is back to nothin’. I’m just gonna tell him I don’t feel good and head home.”

Morgana frowned, “Ryuji, you have to do this.”

“Huh? What’s with your serious tone all of a sudden?”

“Honestly, I’m kinda sick of seeing you pine so hard for Joker. Just tell him how you feel so he can reject you and you can get over him already.”

“Gee, thanks for the pep talk, Morgana. Really cheered me up.”

Morgana frowned, “sorry, I was just kidding. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Just then, they heard a call from upstairs, “Ryuji, you can come back up now.”

Morgana winked at Ryuji, “go get ‘em, tiger.”

Ryuji felt a sense of dread growing within him, and headed up the stairs.

—–

Akira sat on the edge of his bed, waiting for Ryuji to have a seat. His eyes followed Ryuji as he moved to sit on the futon, and Akira said, “so, what’s been on your mind lately? What did you want to talk to me about?”

Ryuji tensed, heart pounding in his chest, “uh, well, uhm… nice… weather we’re havin’, huh? Eheheh…”

Akira frowned, “what, that’s it? C'mon, you’re joking. Tell me what’s going on, man. You can tell me anything.”

“Well. o-okay… let’s say… _hypothetically_ ,” Ryuji made sure to emphasize that word and make it very clear he wasn’t talking about himself, even if he was, “one of your friends… happened to be bisexual. Would you stop bein’ their friend ‘cause you think it’s weird…? Remember, this is _completely hypothetical_.”

Akira grinned, seeming to catch on to what Ryuji was saying easily, “well, I’d tell them that it’s perfectly okay, and it’s not something they have to hide from me. I’d be happy they’d trust me enough to tell me, and I’d still consider them one of my best friends, no doubt.”

Ryuji sighed from relief, but this confession wasn’t quite over. Here came the nervewracking part, “okay, good. Now say… hypothetically… this friend… may or may not like you… in a different way…?”

Akira’s grin faded, his eyes widening, and a small, “wait, what,” escaped from him.

Ryuji quickly interjected, his face red, “look man, if this is weirdin’ you out and you’d rather completely forget about the subject, just say so because I’m completely on board-”

Akira cut him off, “wait, wait, wait. Okay, so… let me get this straight. You’re not. You’re coming out to me right now.”

Slowly, Ryuji nodded, “I… thought you got that part.”

“No, I mean, I did, I’m just… This hypothetical friend, they’re the same person in both scenarios, right?”

Ryuji could feel the sweat dripping down the back of his neck. With a small voice, he let out a questioning, “m-maybe,” unsure of how the other would respond.

Akira sat for a moment, and Ryuji could see the gears turning in his friend’s head before Akira finally blurted out, “oh my god, you **do** have the hots for me. I was joking earlier, but holy shit.”

“Look, this would be a lot easier on me if you just rejected me instead of whatever it is you’re doing right now, so if you don’t mind-”

“Wait, reject you?”

Ryuji furrowed his brows, “uh… yeah. That’s what you’re gonna do, right?”

Akira let out a hesitant, “well,” he trailed off a bit, “not necessarily..”

“Wait. Are you sayin’ what I think yer sayin’…?”

“To answer your question… yeah, I think I’m saying what you think I’m saying. Y'know, I thought I’d be the one confessing first, but you beat me to it, I guess. Hahah,” a sheepish grin made it’s way to Akira’s face.

Ryuji sat, unmoving.

“Uh… Ryuji?”

“No. _Fuckin’_. **_Way_**. Are you for real?? Like.. yer not fuckin’ with me right now, are you?”

“Nope, nothing like that. I genuinely, honestly like you, Ryuji.”

Ryuji’s face beamed with excitement, and before Akira could process it, Ryuji was running towards him and swooped him up in a big hug, saying, “this is unbelievable! In the best way possible!”

Akira laughed, returning the hug, “you’re telling me.”

“Wait,” Ryuji pulled away, “does that… does that make us a thing now?”

“Well… do you want to be a thing?”

“I… Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

Akira grinned again, “then I guess we’re a thing.”

Ryuji smiled at him, and in the background they both heard a familiar voice saying, “gaaaaaaay.”

Ryuji’s smile quickly turned into a frown. “Stupid cat…” he muttered, causing Akira to snicker.

Ryuji hoped he could continue to make Akira smile like that as often as possible.


	2. A Text Convo With Ann

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a text convo that takes place between Ryuji and Ann basically right after the ending of the last chapter

Ann: How’d it go?! Tell me EVERYTHING!  
  
Ryuji laughed at his friend’s enthusiasm.  
  
Ryuji: ok ok!  
  
Ann: Sooooooo?  
  
Ryuji: guess whos got a new boyfriend apparently  
  
Ann: NO WAY :O  
  
Ryuji: yeah way  
  
Ann: Yay!!! Im so happy for you two!! Congrats!  
  
Ryuji: thanks ann!  
  
Ann: Have u kissed yet? ;)  
  
Ryuji: what? no! we just started goin out  
  
Ann: Aww :(


	3. Coming Out To The Squad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuji and Akira tell the rest of the Phantom Thieves that they stole each other's hearts (get it? :P)

“Man, why am I so nervous?”

“I’m not sure, but I can promise you everything will go fine, babe.”

“Thanks, man.”

Akira and Ryuji sat in a booth at Leblanc, hands entertwined under the table. Ryuji bit his lip, looking at the clock. Noon. Their friends would be there any minute. Ryuji squeezed Akira’s hand, and Akira squeezed back.

As if on cue, the bell to Leblanc rang, and in came their entire crew - Makoto took the lead, and the others followed in behind her, finding their own spots in the cafe where they could all still see each other.

“So, Akira,” Makoto asked, “what brings us here today? You said you had an announcement to make, yes?”

Akira steals a quick glance to Ryuji, and says, “That’s right. Recently, I had made a discovery… A discovery that may or may not shock you all.”

Futaba cut in, snarky as ever, “you sound like some sort of click bait article. Just get on with it.”

"Futaba, it is my God given bisexual right to be dramatic."

"Whatever, just tell us what's up."

“Okay, okay,” Akira huffed, “well… I have a boyfriend.”

Makoto blinked a few times, Ann gave Ryuji a knowing smile, and Haru responded, “that’s wonderful, Akira! Who’s the lucky guy? Do we get to meet him?”

“Well… I would say yes, but the truth is is that you already have met him. It’s Ryuji.”

Before anyone else could make a comment, Futaba jumped out of her seat, shouting, “I KNEW IT.”

“Wow! That’s so wonderful, you two! I’m so proud,” Haru congratulated the two of them next.

“Wow. I just… didn’t expect that. Congrats,” Makoto smiled softly at them.

One voice, however, cut through all the noise of celebration, “wait just a moment.”

Everybody looked in Yusuke’s direction.

“Is this some kind of prank?”

Akira might think he was joking, if he hadn’t sounded so serious. He hesitated, “uhm… no?”

Haru and Makoto looked at each other, trading confused stares, as Futaba looked towards Yusuke, “what, Inari? Have a problem with it?”

“Oh, no, no, nothing of the sort,” Yusuke started, “in fact, I’m quite happy for you… but… uhm… well, how do I put this…”

Futaba raised an eyebrow, “spit it out, Inari.”

“Be patient, I’m looking for the right words. I’m just… a bit confused, I suppose.”

“Why’s that,” Akira asked.

“Well… I thought you two had been together since we’ve been introduced.”

It was quiet for a moment, but it wasn’t long before Futaba couldn’t suppress her laughter anymore. Ann joined in, and Haru let out small giggles.

Yusuke frowned, “what’s so funny?”

“Y'know,” Futaba said in between laughing fits, “I don’t think I blame you for that at all.”

While their friends laughed together, Akira beamed towards Ryuji, “I think I’d consider that a success.”

Ryuji laughed, “yeah, I’d say so.” He let out a sigh, falling to the side to let his head rest on his boyfriend’s shoulder, “I’m really glad this all worked out.”

Akira softly laid his head on top of Ryuji’s, saying, “yeah, me too.”


	4. First Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They kiss. Idk what else to tell ya.

“Aw man, you beat me again?”

“You told me not to go easy on you like I did last time.”

Ryuji groaned, looking at his boyfriend, “yeah, but I didn’t mean kick my ass into next month.”

Akira shrugged, grinning, “whoops. Guess you’ll just have to get good, scrub.”

“Oh, you’re fucking on, I will beat you this time!”

“Wait, how many times have you asked for a rematch now?”

“Not enough. I need to beat you, fair and square.”

“Alright, alright.”

They started up another round, grip tightening on their controllers. The timer counted down, and off they raced, Akira in first place. Ryuji scowled, determined to catch up to him.

A few minutes passed, and they were on their final lap, neck and neck with each other. Ryuji focused with steely determination, before Akira said, “hey, Ryuji?”

Ryuji didn’t hear him, as he was too focused on getting to the goal. He was so close, he just had to find a way to get past Akira somehow.

“Ryuji?”

He heard him that time. Without taking his focus off of the game, he answered, “what’s up?”

“Ryuji, look at me.”

Ryuji turned, “what is i-”

He was met with soft lips against his own. He lost all focus, (in fact, he had lost so much focus that he didn’t even realize he dropped his controller until he heard a thunk), and he felt Akira pull back, but before he could register it- “Aha! I won again!”

Ryuji shook his head, “wait. Wait. Wait a minute,” he looked at Akira, “you just… kissed me?”

Akira frowned, “ah, was it too soon? I figured we’ve been dating for a couple of months already, so-”

“No, no, I just…” as if Ryuji had snapped back to reality, he scowled, “I just can’t believe you’d use our first kiss as an opportunity to win at a video game, you cheater!”

Akira laughed, “I had to defend my champion title somehow!”

“You’re such a cheater, dude.”

Akira batted his eyelashes, “yeah, but… you love me, so it’s fine.”

“Is not!”

“Okay, maybe not, but you do still love me.”

“Okay, okay, yeah, I do… Hey, Akira?”

Akira looked over at his boyfriend, “yeah?”

“Can we.. uh.. can we do that again?”

“What, kiss?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Akira blushed, “uh, s-sure.”

They both leaned in, but at the last second, a voice from the corner of the room piped up, “get a room, you two.”

“This isn’t even your room, Morgana!”

Akira chuckled, staring at his boyfriend. He couldn’t believe just how lucky he was. Ryuji looked back at him, and smiled. Ryuji beamed brightly, a hint of pink on his cheeks and the tips of his ears, and Akira thought this was probably the happiest he, himself, had been in a long time.


End file.
